Day 98-99 / Tag 98-99 Going home

I don't feel like leaving here at all.

A last shower before the long ride over the Atlantic ocean later today. I am clever enough to take a
second T-shirt with me in the cabin luggage. Heartwarming good bye from the girl at the Art Hotel,

a last Cortado at Ki'Bok, and then to the ruins of Tulum. Bad idea, it is sunday morning, 10 am. I had better done that on a weekday, uh, wait, I was diving the last five mornings...
Waiting in line to buy a ticket in the blazing sun, Mexicans dressed up as ancient Mayas stand ready for fotos with their snake and tourists, you have to pay for every foto, even from far, waiting in another line to the entrance, and pushing myself through the ruins with the tourists, the sun knows no mercy. I only wanted to take some shots of the ruins by the sea, I sweat like a pig, no shadow anywhere. My T-shirt is soaking wet.
I take some shots and flee this place.

Seems he doesn't enjoy it too much, either

Day 83 / Tag 83 June 3 Hawaii to San Francisco

 
Travel day.
Brad and Julia give me a lift to the airport. Big Mahalo for that!

Brad finds a used Hilo Hattie Shirt in the back of his car, original, with coconut buttons, as he says, and gives it to me. A beautiful shirt.

flight to Frisco

Day 73-74 / Tag 73-74, May 24-25, From Indonesia to Hawaii

24.5., 1:45pm Speedboat from Gili Air to Bali
Transfer to Denpasar Airport, Bali, had a beer and Pizza
3 hours flight to Kuala Lumpur
5 hours stopover at KL, this feels very familiar already
7 hours flight KL to Tokyo, Boeing 787
3 hours stopover at Narita Airport, got some cigarettes and a powerplug adaptor for Japan and America

Kabuki on display at Narita Airport, Tokyo

Day 70 / Tag 70 Sun. May 21 Traveling Sorong, Papua Barat to Bali

More group fotos

 I get my wetsuit from the Engine room, bone dry

More group fotos

Day 62 / Tag 62 May 13, Traveling Day: Lembeh, Sulawesi to Sorong, Papua Barat

Flight goes at 7am from Manado. On Lembeh that means get up at 4am. Short Boatride to Sulawesi and the usual minivan madness to Airport Manado before the sun even goes up.

But wait, I forgot a nice foto from last nightdive:

Everybody else flies Garuda, I have a Wing ticket.
The difference? Garuda flies

Day 59 / Tag 59 Wed. May 10 Bunaken to Lembeh

Smooth traveling with Bastianos Transport: Bunaken to Manado by boat,

Bunaken village with mosque and church

Day 54 / Tag 54 Fri. May 5 From Mabul to Bunaken

Traveling day...

Last time on the jetty in the morning

Cat is giving a swimming class. Many want to learn diving, but cannot even swim...

The clear waters of Mabul

Day 46 / Tag 46 April 27. From Ao Nang, Thailand to Semporna, Sabah

All alarms go off at 4 am: Wake up, Travel Time again!!!

I started this trip from Berlin on March 13th.
Now, 46 days and 62 dives later, I leave Thailand and go further, traveling to Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia.Into the unknown.

Taxi arrives at 5.
Arrive in time, I have some time to kill, but there is not a lot you can do at Krabi International Airport at 6 in the morning ;-)

My flight to Kuala Lumpur is late, 40 minutes delay, we arrive half an hour later than planned, KLia2 is a terminal with looong ways to walk, I wait more than an hour in line for immigration, and BANG! there goes my connection flight to Tawau, Sabah. 10 minutes too late for check in.

I have to buy a new ticket for a flight three hours later, inform Scuba Junkie Semporna by email, that I need a later pickup. Unfortunately they don't confirm as I had asked for, so after some more than an hour I get nervous and call them from my German phone. They already planned everything for my new arrival time!
Three minutes after the phone call they confirm by email (I'm looking forward to that phone call on my bill for April...)
Get some money from an ATM, these bills look unfamiliar, a Euro buys you around 4.7 Malaysian Ringgit.
Try the bills at KFC with a two piece plate, fries and cole slaw. Works ;-)

Nice seat on the plane, row 14 on an Airbus 320-200, that means emergency exit with a lot of room for your legs. Took some notes and semi-sleep.

Tawau, Sabah is one of those small airports, where the plane parks in front of the building

Day 36 / Tag 36, April 17. Traveling to Koh Lanta

Gave back the scooter at Poi's, wait for the pickup at 12, ferry boat to Lanta.
Change boats at the pier on Koh Phi Phi, as always there is someone who doesn't get it and comes late for the second boat, so we go back to pick them up,

Day 16 / Tag 16 Going to Ko Tao

Taxi to airport at 8 am, Leo is late, we have breakfast at Phuket Airport, flight to Samui, minivan to Seatran pier in Bangrak for only 200 Baht for the two of us. We hang out in the shade on the pier with Mango Shakes from a food stall nearby.
Short before embarkation I notice I am missing my wallet with passport, vaccination book, 10 thousand Baht and some 1 thousand Euros! Adrenaline! Not even on Ko Tao, and already without passport!
I rush to the Family Mart and the food stall where I last had it, no wallet. Search the entire pier, no wallet.
Finally go to the ticket counter, where I ask the ladyboy behind the counter. He/she asks me questions to identify me, ask how old I am, and I answer in fluent Thai: Haa Sib Kao.
Grinning all over his face he hands me my wallet, saying I should have come to him/her first, he/she has 60 ladies and only one husband, whatever that is supposed to mean.
My circulation and adrenaline level return to normal...
Now that's time for my favorite Cigarette:

Leo brought them for me from the Duty Free in Zurich

Pretty rough ride in heavy rain on the small ferryboat to Ko Tao directly, no stop in Ko Phangan

Course set to Koh Tao

Rastaman taxi driver brings us to Sairee Beach, drops us close to Phoenix Divers, and we enter the office at Rainbowfish Divers. Pooh comes running out from behind the counter, big hugs and kisses, I introduce my son and Pooh.

We take rooms in Flower Resort, just on the opposite side of the small walking street, drop bags and take to the restaurant. The boy is hungry, and eager to try all dishes during his stay of 12 days here.
He goes for Chicken Satay and No Name with vegetables and eats it all up

Leo having his fiirst real meal at Flowers Restaurant on Ko Tao

Leo goes to bed early, I take a last beer at the Fishbowl Beach Bar, always Live Music, always different.
Finally reached our spot for the next 12 days. Leo's Open Water Diver course starts tomorrow. I will take it a bit easy, my sinusses are not ok, my ears are slightly deaf, and after every boat ride it feels like the world is shaking and moving. Have I got the bends, am I narced?

 Let's see tomorrow, and let's go diving

See you under water

Day 1 / Tag 1

Starting a bit off track, my flight from Berlin to Cologne was cancelled due to ground staff on strike at both Berlin Airports. The airline offerd a train ticket to Cologne which I accepted, so I startetd at 9:49 am on Monday, March 13th.
The Countdown on this page was set to 2:10 pm, the original scheduled flight time, but who cares about an hour or two...
Nothing to report here, five hours train ride to Cologne, check-in at the airport ond off to Phuket. 11 hours flight and I can't really sleep on flights, so I arrived pretty wasted at Phuket Airport the next day.



I have some people asking for a german version of this blog. I'll make up my mind about that, promised.

See you